Tag Archives: rich

President Barack Obama has proposed raising taxes on the rich to put America’s fiscal house in order, but critics say federal spending is so massive that the wealthy don’t have enough money to cover the nation’s unprecedented debt.

In an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) said President Barack Obama’s plan to raise taxes on the wealthy would only generate enough revenue to fund the federal government for eight days.

“The president’s plan to increase taxes on the upper two percent covers the spending by this federal government not for eight years, not for eight months, not for eight weeks but for eight days. Eight days only,” said Mr. Price. “It’s not a real solution. So, again, I’m puzzled by an administration that seems to be more interested in raising tax rates than in gaining economic vitality.”

The problem is that the rich don’t have enough money to put so much as a dent in America’s $16 trillion national debt. “If the IRS grabbed 100 percent of income over $1 million, the take would be just $616 billion,” writes John Stossel. “That’s only a third of this year’s deficit. Our national debt would continue to explode.”

Still, Mr. Obama’s supporters persist in proposing tax hikes on the wealthy. On Sunday, billionaire Warren Buffett proposed a minimum tax for America’s top earners. “We need Congress, right now, to enact a minimum tax on high incomes. I would suggest 30 percent of taxable income between $1 million and $10 million, and 35 percent on amounts above that.”

There’s just one problem with such an approach, says author Mark Steyn:

If you took every single penny that Warren Buffett has, it’d pay for 4-1/2 days of the US government. This tax-the-rich won’t work. The problem here is the government is way bigger than even the capacity of the rich to sustain it. The Buffett Rule would raise $3.2 billion a year, and take 514 years just to pay off Obama’s 2011 budget deficit.

Indeed, even Mr. Buffett seems to concede that he and the president’s “soak the rich” proposals are more an act of political theater designed to generate an emotional response than serious solutions: Mr. Buffett told Matt Lauer he believes his proposal would boost the “morale of the middle class.”

From the Common Constitutionalist: The facts are the facts. No matter how much spin Obama puts on it. The republicans, not wanting to try to educate the public, are jumping on the “Revenue” bandwagon. (Always remember, revenue equals tax increases).

Moderate republican Lindsey Graham told ABC’s This Week on Sunday, “Republicans should put revenue on the table. We’re this far in debt. We don’t generate enough revenue.” Rep. Cole said on Tuesday, “I think we ought to take the 98 percent deal right now,” and allow taxes to go up for higher income earners.

Rep. Peter King told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, “[The] bottom line is we cannot have sequestration. We can’t go off a fiscal cliff. We have to show the world we’re adults. … I think everything should be on the table. I myself am opposed to tax increases.”

It appears to me Obama and the democrats have already won. A crisis has been created, on purpose, I might add, and the republicans will do what they always do. Whether it’s the end of the world scenario of TARP, the stimulus, the debt ceiling or this. They keep giving ground and the dems keep taking.

Let me put this “Tax the Rich” nonsense into further perspective. The federal government currently spends 9.5 billion dollars per day. Are you getting the magnitude of that number.

Now lets reinject John Stossel’s number. If we took every dime the rich makes it would total $616 billion. That would fund the government for about 65 days. What do you do on the 66th day? You’ve already taken all the income.

Let’s put some more perspective on it. We all heard about the huge Powerball jackpot this past week. Those 2 lucky winners are now rich beyond their wildest dreams. The cash payout for each is about $160 million give or take. That’s a lot of money unless one is trying to run the government. That whopping $160 million could run the federal government for less than a 1/2 hour. How’s that for some perspective.

This problem cannot and never will be solved until the size of government is slashed. Not just the fat trimmed, but cut to the bone. The only way to do that is to starve it of revenue.

We are going over the fiscal cliff, one way or the other. It’s just a question of when at this point.